The feather on the back of Daniel Vidot's neck isn't just a tattoo.
It's a symbol of the way he lives.
A reminder of the saying he first heard as a 12-year-old; the one he's used to shape his life on and off the football field ever since.
Just because you lose a feather doesn't mean you can't fly.
''One of my teachers showed it to me and I loved it,'' Vidot explains.
''I ended up making a little laminated note, put a feather in it and hung it up on my bedroom wall so that every time I woke up I'd see it.
''It's still back at home in Brisbane on my wall.
''It means no matter what mistakes you've made before or what bad things have happened, you can still get the best out of yourself.
''No matter what, you can still fly.
''It reminds me I'm strong enough to keep doing as I do.
''Never give up, keep believing in yourself and what you can do.
''Some people think that some things are impossible, but I believe that anything is possible.''
Meet Daniel Vidot.
He's the strapping young lad who occupies the right wing for the Canberra Raiders.
The one whose athleticism defied the laws of gravity to help him score that brilliant try against Newcastle at Canberra Stadium last season.
While Vidot's on-field actions speak for themselves he's scored seven tries in just nine NRL games and is already part of Queensland's emerging Origin squad off it he's not so out there.
He's shy, softly spoken and deeply devoted to his family and religion.
An unassuming kid who sends half his pay packet back to his mum in Brisbane every week.
It takes a question about his tattoos to really get the 20-year-old talking. That's okay because they paint a pretty accurate image of who he is. Every drop of ink in Vidot's body has deep meaning.
The sleeve on his right arm is a collage of images representing his Samoan culture.
The words Muamua Le Atua are inscribed among the tortoise shells and arrow heads. It is Samoan for God first a reminder to keep true to his Mormon faith.
Then there's the feather and the word Believe on his neck.
This symbolises the way he approaches life.
It would be easy to assume arrogance prompted Vidot to permanently ink his surname on his back.
But right below it are the words family first.
Vidot's back is not a shrine to himself, but to his family.
To his mother, Mabel, who has driven for up to 20 hours to watch him play.
To his older brothers, Paul, Andrew and Josh and older sister Bernice.
To his stepfather, Paul, whose French surname he has taken as his own.
These are the things Vidot puts above all else culture, religion and family.
''That's why I've got my tattoos, they're all personal to me,'' he says.
''The sleeve is a cultural thing, the name on my back is a family thing, the feather is about how I want to live my life.
''Family is massive for me. Family always comes first.''
Family has always been of utmost importance for Vidot, whose biological father walked out while he was still an infant.
Growing up in Brisbane he was always surrounded by his siblings, be it at school, church or on the sporting field.
That's what made things so tough when he moved to Canberra to join the Raiders as a 17-year-old.
What makes it easier is the constant contact, particularly with his mum.
Mabel Vidot doesn't restrict herself to calling her son daily, she also frequently drives from Brisbane to Sydney, a round trip of nearly 2000km, to watch him play.
She was in the crowd at CUA Stadium last week to watch her son score a try during Canberra's loss to Penrith.
As Vidot explains, ''She wants to be there in case something happens, if I got injured she'd want to be there.''
When Vidot was struggling to make ends meet while playing for the Raiders' under-20s side his mum would often send him money to help out. Now the tables have turned.
Whereas many rugby league players spend their money on flash cars and real estate, Vidot sends as much as he can back to Brisbane.
''I'm here trying to support my family, I'm kind of on a little mission here,'' he said. ''I always send money back to support mum.
''I keep enough money to get some food and look after myself, but most of it I send back to mum.''
For more on this story, see the print edition of today's Canberra Times.
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